COLUMBUS, Ohio – City building inspectors have declared all eight buildings at the fire-ravaged Marion Road recycling complex unsafe and ordered the site’s owner to immediately remove hazards from the property.
READ MORE: In the Columbus Dispatch
Meanwhile, fire officials continue to investigate the cause of the four-alarm blaze that erupted Friday, engulfing the paper, plastic and wooden-pallet recycling operation. The blaze sent a plume of black smoke into the skies that was visible for miles.
The city’s Department of Building and Zoning Services issued the orders yesterday after Mayor Michael B. Coleman told department heads to go after the owner to clean up the 13-acre site that he said “presents a safety and health hazard to the South Side.”
Yesterday’s emergency order requires the property owner, Ebrahim Hooshiarnejad, to secure the property and remove the hazards, which include damaged and exposed electrical systems and components, plus environmental waste and debris.
Although he can appeal the notice, Hooshiarnejad must immediately comply with the order, said Scott Messer, director of the Department of Building and Zoning Services.
The eight buildings must remain vacant, and the owner must immediately begin work to restore the buildings to safe conditions or demolish them.
The Columbus Fire and Explosives Unit has established the origin of the fire but is still pinpointing the cause. Fire officials expect that investigation to wrap up late next week, Battalion Chief Tracy Smith said.
A number of businesses apparently operate at the property at 611 Marion Road. Signs lists Universal Paper & Plastics Inc., Columbus Pallet Recycling and ABECO Materials. Phoenix Recycling, United Paper & Plastics and United Plastics also are associated with the property.
Hooshiarnejad’s lawyer, Jim Gilbert, could not be reached yesterday afternoon.